1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child safety seat with alarm for use in connection with transporting infants in vehicles. The child safety seat with alarm has particular utility in connection with notifying the driver of a vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle when the driver moves away from the vehicle.
2. Description of the Known Art
Child safety seats with alarms are desirable for notifying the driver of a vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle. Children frequently fall asleep when being transported in vehicles. As a result, it is possible for a driver to forget that they are transporting a child if the baby remains quiet for a long period of time. Forgetting a child inside of a vehicle can result in severe injury to or the death of the child from extreme temperature conditions and/or dehydration. Child safety seats with alarms not only protect the child in the event of accident, but also remind the driver of the presence of the child through visual and audio alerts.
The use of child alert systems for automobiles is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,291 to Thornton discloses a child alert system for automobiles. However, the Thornton '291 patent has a significant drawback of not sounding an alarm until a potentially dangerous temperature has already been reached inside of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,844 to Burgess discloses a child seat with a built-in alarm that alerts if the door is opened. However, the constant alerting by Burgess's system—as the door will always be opened even if the parent hasn't forgotten the child—inefficiently drains the power supply of the alarm and also will unnecessarily wake a sleeping child.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,293 to Rossi discloses a warning system for detecting presence of the child in an infant seat that detects the state of the vehicle's ignition system. However, the Rossi '293 patent overly complicates the alarm system by not only detecting a child is present, but also detecting whether the vehicle is still operating. This complicated dual detection system allows for potential failure of the system.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,070 to Thornton discloses a child alert alarm for automobiles that detects the presence of a child locked within a parked automobile during extreme temperatures. However, the Thornton '070 patent cannot sound an alarm until a potentially dangerous temperature has already been reached inside of the vehicle.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,234 to Emery et al. discloses an infant vehicle seat alarm system that produces an audible or visual warning when the seat/carrier component is initially aligned on the base component, not locked onto the base component, or when the harness is in an unused state. However, the Emery et al. '234 patent does not alert the driver to the presence of an infant when the driver is away from the vehicle.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,509 to Rice discloses a voice-activated vehicle alarm system that generates an output signal in response to signals from a temperature sensor and a sound detector. However, the Rice '509 patent lacks the ability to sound an alarm until a potentially dangerous temperature has already been reached inside of the vehicle.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 306,099 to Kassai discloses a child's safety seat for an automobile. However, the Kassai '099 patent does not generate an alarm when the driver is away from the vehicle.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a child safety seat with alarm that allows notifying the driver of the vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle when the driver steps away from the vehicle. Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved child safety seat with alarm that can be used for notifying the driver of the vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle when the driver steps away from the vehicle. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the child safety seat with alarm according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of notifying the driver of the vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle when the driver moves away from the vehicle.